T.I.’s Sentence: A Year And A Day

A judge has sentenced T.I. to one year and one day in prison for being found guilty of federal weapons charges, a sentence that’s in line with the plea deal the MC struck with authorities one year ago. T.I.—real name Clifford Harris—has 6-8 weeks to turn himself in to prison, and he can whittle his sentence to the under-300-day mark if he’s well-behaved while in the pokey. His community-service tour over the last year, which totaled 1,006 hours and included stops at schools and a show on MTV, may result in other offenders being given “experimental” sentences, even if they’re not famous!

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pannell sentenced T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., to one year and one day under the negotiated plea. But the deal qualifies T.I. for credits likely to cut the sentence to about 298 days.

The 27-year-old rapper, clad in a dark suit and black shirt, thanked the judge and prosecutors for giving him the chance to cut his prison time by speaking to youths about the pitfalls of crime, drugs and gangs. He has delivered that message to thousands in recent months.

“It means just as much to me to make you guys proud for what you have done as it does for me to make myself and my family proud,” he said at the sentencing hearing in downtown Atlanta.

“I’m a man of integrity. I’m a man of morals, of standards, of principle,” the entertainer said.

Pannell said he would not have approved the deal – which includes far less prison time than federal guidelines call for on the weapons charges involved – if U.S. Attorney David Nahmias had not recommeded it.

“I think it’s been a good experiment,” the judge said. “I’ve come to resist the lockup mentality that we often find ourselves in… . maybe it will lead to similar experimental sentencings.”

Panell also told T.I. directly: “I congratulate you on the year of work you have done so far.”